A sudden deafening scream from either my wife Liz or my grown up daughter Jodie, and I know what the problem is. Of course, they're screaming out for the only 'macho man' in the house to come to their rescue, and off I go at full speed in my wheelchair.

"Alright, leave it to me, I'll deal with this!", I say. Then, picture the scene if you will, as I tear from one corner of the room to the other in my wheelchair, performing on the spot pirouettes along the way.

Why? Because I'm trying to catch a rather large spider, without hurting or running over it.

In action: The spider catcher

Eventually if I wear the eight-legged beast out I'll manage to corner it. And then all I have to do is to reach down to the floor without invoking an involuntary muscle spasm (which could potentially throw me from the chair) and scoop the little critter up in my hands.

Finally, it's just a simple matter of getting my wheelchair to an open door or window in order to release the apprentice tarantula, thus saving the world while (more importantly) remaining the macho man of the house.

Now it seems, my macho days are numbered: no more screams for help, no more chances to prove my masculinity.

All I can do now is to show how clever I am. In fact, now all the family are clever clogs when it comes to disposing of spiders and insects the humane way, ever since we were given the bizarre and unique 'Spider Catcher' to try.

This ingenious invention gets rid of all unwelcome creatures harmlessly, and at arms length too. You simply place the bristles over the insect or spider and release the trigger in the handle so the creature is firmly but gently clasped, then transport it outside for safe disposal.

At 26 inches long, it even works in tight corners and under furniture.

The Spider Catcher was created by one Tony Allen, who got fed up after years of balancing on his son Robert's bed and/or bedside chair. Spiders would often scurry under furniture or climb the walls out of reach. Not wanting to harm them, he thought there must be a better solution. After four weeks in the garden shed and numerous missed meals, he came up with hios catcher.

This is the best solution I've seen for arachnophobes and even comes with its own plastic spider for practice before you deal with the real thing. Great stuff...